The Black Movement - Research Paper

Introduction

Social movements involve a group of people who come together with the aim of acting in support or against something within society. Most of these actions are meant to make sure that the rights of the people are respected by those in authority. The major agenda, in this case, is to initiate a change socially or politically, as the oppressed get the much-needed power to voice out what they feel is affecting them negatively, and the use of formal bureaucratic means may not be of great help. The manner in which social movements operate and the various types are dependent on differing factors, including the scope, the timing, the nature of work affected, and kind of change that is expected. In the modern western world, social movements were mainly influenced from the fact that many people became educated, and that there was an increase in the number of people getting employment, hence the constant movement of individuals. There is a strong connection between political systems that are democratic and social movements. While there are many movements that take place in countries that are in the democratizing process, most have also occurred after the completion of the same. For a greater part of the last two centuries, they have become one of the greatest ways through which people have aired their dissent.

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One of the most recent cases of a country where there was a social movement is in Poland, where women protested for the fact that they are being denied the freedom of choosing what to do with their pregnancies, especially with regards to the topic on abortion. It is worth noting that Poland as a country has some of the strictest laws when it comes to the issue of abortion. More on the same is also related to matters on gender equality, the reproductive rights of women, and the discrimination against some persons. Are women justified when it comes to the questions that they have in relation to gender oppression? How do theories of feminism impact on the matters and concerns as raised by the Polish women? Various feminist theories support the manner in which women dissent on the many concerns identified, including radical and liberal and neoliberal feminism notions. In that case, this discussion will aim at analyzing how these theories have affected the behavior of Polish women when looking at the black movement staged in protest over their reproductive rights. It is clear that despite being a democracy, the women have faced various challenges with regards to gender equality, and it was only a matter of time before the protests began.

Background

The notion in Poland at the moment is that the women are fighting to save their lives, as indicated by the black protests where the women move to the streets while dressed in black to air their disappointments. The main issue, in this case, is the fact that the right-wing government and any other anti-gender agencies are rallying against the laws that promote equality, anti-discrimination, and the reproductive rights of the women. From a historical point of view, Poland as a country was selected by religious fundamentalists as they wanted to use it as a battleground for experimental purposes, especially since they were at an initial stage of making Europe a Christian continent again (Szelegieniec, 2018). One of the major reasons for its selection is the fact that as a country it has some of the strictest laws regarding abortion in the continent, besides being a country that is almost totally Catholic. The right-wing party that rules has the majority of members in parliament. The left-wing became absent totally, implying that there would be no group of persons that would be brave enough to oppose most of these laws that were oppressing women (BBC, 2018).

Despite the fact that the Catholic Church was and is still in great support towards banning abortion, the truth of the matter is that it is not the one that started the same. The Institute of Ordo Iuris, which is an advocacy group that is known for its conservative nature was responsible for the drafting of this law that is thought to be draconian. The original law proposed a total ban on abortion without having any exception, that any person who conducted the same be regarded as a criminal, that any case that is regarded as a miscarriage be investigated thoroughly, and that the access to hormonal contraception and prenatal tests (Szelegieniec, 2018).

An Era of Activism

It was only a matter of time before the draconian law was resented, as what the neo-conservative movement did was regarded as one of the greatest mistakes, since it got to a point where the women became tired. The fact that they were tolerating the law was from maintenance of peace within the society. A wave of activism started when women realized that abortion would be totally banned, and its peak was on the 3rd day of October in 2016 that was dabbed as the Black Monday (Beaty, 2017). On the feted day, there were two major groups outside the parliament which constituted the left-wing parties and feminist groups that pushed for the "Save the Women" law as a way of countering the drafted law on abolishing abortion. The first draft on saving the women was dropped during the first stage, while the one on stopping abortion was pushed further to the proceedings in parliamentary committees (Beaty, 2017). At the grass-roots level, many organizations campaigned for women where they were piling pressure on the government to stop the draconian law. It is from the same that the black protests started, where women all over the country took to the streets while dressed in black as a way of protesting the oppression (Adamowski, 2016).

The protests took place in more than 60 cities within Poland, as thousands of women went on to protest even when it was raining very heavily. It is from the same that they came up with an umbrella as their emblem since they were determined to win come rain or sunshine. While politicians wanted to ignore the matter that would not be the case as the protests went on for three days straight. As a result of the same, the parliament rejected the bill on abolishing abortion, thereby rendering victory to the women (Adamowski, 2016). However, there are signs that the law will be strengthened again, considering that parliament passed a draft of the law in March 2018. This is despite the restart of new protests over the same, and pressure against endorsing the same from the UN council and the Council of Europe (Greasley, 2017).

Radical Feminism Perspective

From a radical feminist point of view, the black protests by the polish women are justified based on the fact that the law on stopping abortion completely is something that undermines and oppresses the women and not the men. Radical feminism is concerned with calling for a radical change within a society that is characterized by male dominance and supremacy in socio-economic contexts (Yun, 2017). In this case, the feminists have a societal perspective where the men are there to oppress women, and therefore have a responsibility of making sure that they get rid of this patriarchy. They strive to have a society that is just and make all people be aware of the social challenges they are facing and how to eliminate them. Most of the issues that they deal with include objectification of women on sexual grounds, violence against women, and matters related to gender roles. The main aim of having a radical feminist revolution is to make sure that there is a distinction between the two sexes, besides the elimination of the privilege that men have. For radical feminists, the main reason for the oppression of women is related to the gender relations that are patriarchal rather than issues that are related to the legal system (Yun, 2017). The oppression of women is the highest form of its kind, and for them abolishing it, by all means, is what they need to do before sorting out any other social injustice in society.

From a radical feminist point of view, the black protests by the polish women are justified based on the fact that the law on stopping abortion completely is something that undermines and oppresses the women and not the men. Radical feminism is concerned with calling for a radical change within a society that is characterized by male dominance and supremacy in socio-economic contexts. In this case, the feminists have a societal perspective where the men are there to oppress women, and therefore have a responsibility of making sure that they get rid of this patriarchy (Guardian, 2018). They strive to have a society that is just and make all people be aware of the social challenges they are facing and how to eliminate them. Most of the issues that they deal with include objectification of women on sexual grounds, violence against women, and matters related to gender roles. The main aim of having a radical feminist revolution is to make sure that there is a distinction between the two sexes, besides the elimination of the privilege that men have. For radical feminists, the main reason for the oppression of women is related to the gender relations that are patriarchal rather than issues that are related to the legal system. This form of oppression that women go through is the highest form of its kind, and for them abolishing it, by all means, is what they need to do before sorting out any other social injustice in the society (Jeong-Sook Hahn, 2008).

From their point of view, the first criterion for creating the division started from the basis of sex, where the females, being half of the race of humans have the main burden of reproducing. They believe that the males took advantage of that natural state to make themselves feel that they are superior. Besides that, they have no idea of what happens in relation to the reproductive system, and as such, they bear no responsibility of fighting for anything that oppresses the women. From the black protests in Poland, there were very few if no men that took part, and this is large because they do not reproduce in the same manner as women do.

Abolishing abortion completely and making any related activity a crime is like criminalizing women based on natural happenings (Yun, 2017).

From a historical perspective, radical feminism reached its peak in the mid-1900s, where many women came out to protest the fact that abortion was illegal at all levels. In 1956, the government legalized abortion, but there were several conditions that were put in place with the aim of making the women stay silence in future with regards to any gender-related matters. The main one was that these issues were not supposed to be mentioned in public. Communism was at its peak, and it was also during the same period that the women were silenced. It is also worth noting that despite the success of the first wave of radical feminism, nothing changed with regards to women being oppressed. The legalization of abortion in Poland took place more than 15 years earlier than in the United States and many other countries in Europe, in addition to the allowed use of contraceptives, and the teaching of sexual education in schools starting from junior high school (Jeong-Sook Hahn, 2008). From a general perspective, equality had been achieved. However, that was not the case as the truth was that women were still suffering at the expense of men, considering that the contraceptives that were in use were of the poorest quality, meaning that many women were still getting pregnant without intention, as they thought that they were safe with the available prevention methods. In that case, the main way of controlling giving birth was through abortion (Jeong-Sook Hahn, 2008).

The fact that there were problems was made worse since it was forbidden to discuss the same in public. The suffering of the women went on for many years up to the end of the 1900s, where commun...